Chapter 39: Chapter 39 - Rainy Evening With Mina

Suddenly, rain began falling after cram school had closed.

This was not a mild rain shower.

This was the type of rain that caused catastrophic destruction.

All of the students outside of the station started to panic and open their umbrellas as they fled the crowded streets of the city at night.

Kuro Kurogane stood under the roof of a convenience store with a blank stare and his bag in his hand.

"Of course."

Because, it goes without saying...

He had also left home without his umbrella today.

Awesome .

And a quick rumble of thunder crackled in the sky, and the rain continued to pour non-stop on the streets below.

Most of the students are long gone now.

That leaves Kuro with only two choices:

1. Wait until the rain stops

2. Accept his fate and die from the rain

Suddenly someone came rushing through the rain toward the entrance of the convenience store.

Long, wet blonde hair. Loose, wet school sweater. Same familiar annoying vibe.

Mina Fujikawa

"Kuro-kun!?!?"

"Wow, you resemble a wet cat."

"And you resemble your typical, broken self."

"Bingo."

Mina cackled while shaking rain from her hair in a reckless manner.

Then her eyes bulged out.

"Wait!

"You forgot your umbrella too!?"

Kuro sighed deeply.

"Let’s make this punishment fast."

"Oh my goodness! This is just so awesome."

"You’re enjoying this too much."

"Of course I am."

No surprises there.

The lone cashier remained bored inside the empty store as music played in the background.

The sound of rain was pounding against the outside glass windows.

Mina quickly purchased her hot drink and then took a seat by Kuro.

Mina casually gave Kuro a can of his favorite coffee.

Kuro blinked at her.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don’t be sentimental," she replied.

"That’s too late for that," he said.

Mina smiled and looked happy.

Even though she still loud and had fun with other.

She will continue to do so for the rest of the night.

There was something different about tonight.

Maybe the rain.

Maybe everyone inside the store being more quiet and just acting normal.

Or was this the first time Kuro saw Mina as tired?

If Kuro could tell the difference between the two, then it must be apparent.

Mina stretched her legs out in front of her as she asked, "Are you going home?"

Kuro said, "Eventually."

Mina offered, "You can take my umbrella."

Kuro replied, "That would defeat the purpose of you having one."

He already knew she had one .

Minna said, "I will be fine."

Kuro began to look outside at the rain.

After some silence, Kuro asked, "You don’t like to go home?"

The question came out of Kuro without any attempt of thinking about it.

Mina froze for less than a full second after hearing the question.

As soon as she un-froze, she began to laugh.

"That’s a very deep question coming from Mr. Emotionally Rigid," she said.

"Forget it," Kuro responded.

Mina did not say anything after that either, and remained sitting quietly looking out at the wet street from the windows of the store.

She said, almost as quietly as possible, that she had sometimes just liked to stay out.

That wasn’t what she had meant to say but was the only answer.

And somehow this little bit of honesty changed the mood.

Another crack of thunder boomed outside.

Mina shivered.

Not quite but definitely a little visible.

Kuro raised one eyebrow and asked, "Are you scared of thunder?"

No.

The thunder crashed again somewhere nearby.

Mina moved just a little closer to Kuro without meaning to.

She muttered, "It’s minor tactical discomfort."

"You’re kind of a coward."

"Rude."

This is when Kuro, for the first time all night, smirked slightly.

And Mina froze.

She stared at him.

"Wait...you smiled."

"So?"

"That is against the law."

Kuro quickly looked away like that was the last thing he had wanted to do.

"You are so dramatic," was Kuro’s response.

"Because it is true!"

Mina leaned in slightly, narrowed her eyes at Kuro and said, "You are way funnier now than you ever were before."

"That sounds made up."

"Not even close."

And then she quietly - almost unconsciously - smiled.

"That is nice, though."

Kuro’s heart raced a little.

An ominous feeling began to creep in.

Thirty minutes later it is storming worse than it did when we first started.

The streets were being hammered with water and bright city lights.

The convenience store clerk must be thinking of becoming a monk for not being able to put up with watching us anymore.

Mina sighed.

"I guess we are trapped," she said winking at Kuro.

"You are saying it like we are in a rom-com."

"Well, we sort of are."

"Please don’t say it like that."

Too late.

The mood had shifted slightly right after.

The rain pattered softly. The light in the warm store was quiet and inviting. This was a peaceful moment.

It felt safe for some reason.

And yet annoying Kuro was not unhappy about this.

Later on, Mina suddenly moved from where she’d been sitting.

"Come on."

"Where to?"

"My house."

Kuro blinked once.

"That sounds like a terrible idea."

Mina rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Relax, virgin protagonist."

"That insult seemed specific to me."

"It was."

She pointed out the window.

"At this rate, you’ll freeze to death before you get home."

"You just wanted entertainment."

"Yes."

That was predictable.

But still Kuro joined her as she got up.

Mostly because she was right about the rain.

Not at all because part of Kuro wanted to spend more time with Mina.

The two of them shared Mina’s umbrella while walking down a rainy street in the city.

They had bumped into each other several times, which prompted continuous complaints from Mina.

"Stop being tall."

"I can’t control how tall I am."

"You’re ruining the geometry of the umbrella."

"In my opinion, that’s not even close to being a scientific fact."

"It is to me."

Kuro sighed quietly as he adjusted the umbrella toward Mina’s end of it.

As soon as she noticed, she commented on it instantly.

Then softly—

"You always do that."

"What."

"You take care of everyone without realising it."

Kuro turned his face away from her.

"You’re just imagining things."

"Am not."

Silently, they sat there in stunned silence.

As the lights of the city reflected across the very wet ground surrounding them, rain was lightly falling on the umbrella surrounding the two of them.

Then unexpectedly Mina moved slightly closer to him.

It was just normal.

And for some reason Kuro’s heart started beating differently because of her close proximity.

Finally they arrived at an apartment building which was almost modern in nature.

Kuro looked upwards silently.

"You lived here?"

"Yup."

Territory for the rich.Very frightening.

Mina waited next to the door for a little bit while the rain continued to fall softly in a variety of directions.

Then unexpectedly the smile that was usually on her face faded a little bit.

Just a little bit.

And for the first time since he met her Kuro saw her look like this clearly.

Lonely.

Reluctance in her eyes before stepping inside.

Then she immediately brought back her smile.

"Welcome to my home."

Kuro just looked at her.

And deep down inside of Kuro he realised that tonight had showed him something that was possibly very important.

That the real Mina Fujikawa may be much different than anybody knew at school.